He Would Swear
by New World Leader Izzeh
Summary: Duke Barma was talking about Break, saying he was a murderer, that he killed 116 people. It was horrible. And Break, he was bleeding from his mouth. And he was an illegal contractor. And he was weakening, and he was dying right in front of Oz. Break/Oz


_**He Would Swear**_

Oz would remember that day as one of the longest and fastest days of his life. It would only be rivaled by the day he came back from the Abyss and the day he met the Cheshire Cat in that dimension created by Alice. That day was definitely up there with them.

Everything seemed to be happening so fast, but at the same time it seemed to take so long. Duke Barma was talking about Break, saying he was a murderer, that he killed **116 people**. It was horrible. And Break, he was bleeding from **his mouth**. And he was an illegal contractor. And he was weakening, and he was **dying right in front of Oz.**

When Break finally passed out, Oz swore he felt like the world was shaking.

And then they waited, for Break to wake up. Oz was the only one sitting by his side, everyone else had taken a seat already. Oz didn't want to leave, not when the last moment Break had been conscious was when he was **bleeding from his mouth**. No, he was not leaving that spot.

The quiet seemed so heavy, he could've swore that it felt like his chest was going to cave under the pressure.

Break just wasn't waking up. Would he ever wake up? Maybe he went into a coma or something? Break was so old, though, he could be **dying**. Oz always tried to remind himself that Break had to be at least 70 or 80 by now, even though he looked so young because of his contract. But it was the way he acted, being so carefree and silly half the time, and the way he always carried candy, as the act used to remind him of his grandma but now it only reminded him of Break, and the way he talked…

Actually, no, half the time he sounded like he was ancient when he talked. Break always sounded like he knew a lot more than he let on, and more than most of the time he did. He was such a god damn tease about the information, though, he would never just come out and tell Oz. He would always be sending Oz, Gil and Alice off somewhere to kill Chains and "confirm his suspicions, but he'd never tell them before hand.

It was always afterwards, when Gil was carrying Oz and Alice back because they were unconscious or something, that they would find out. But when Oz really thought about it, being used by Break like that wasn't as bad as it seemed. And that may sound slightly masochistic, but it's not like Break was meaning to toy with their lives, he was always prepared to jump in and rescue them with Sharon if they had to.

And then there was the time that Break apologized to Oz for nearly getting him killed, he could've swore that his heart was going to break through his ribs in panic.

But it had been so unlike Break to apologize, it was so honest and clear that Oz was unsure if he had been dreaming or not. But he couldn't have been dreaming, the scratch he had on his cheek still stung everytime he spoke, so he had to be awake. Break had just bowed and apologized to Oz, and it had been so honest that it just seemed…

Real.

That's what was so wrong with the entire scene. Break had always seemed so clever and tricky before, he had always been teasing all of them and putting them in dangerous situations that weren't actually as dangerous as they seemed, and he was always, always, always seemingly so heartless.

But he wasn't. And Oz could've swore that made Break seem even more inhuman.

So, as the blonde sat next to the man, he stared at him with an expression anyone else would've read as blank. His fists were clutching the cloth of his pants, the ones that Break had told him suited him well the first time they met, nervously, and he was fighting the urge to let a few tears slip out.

Break was sleeping, not dead, he wasn't going to die yet. He told you that already, that he wouldn't let himself die until he found out the truth of what happened at Sabrie. He wasn't going to die anytime soon. But he just looked so…

Oz bit his lip and forced himself to stare at the man's face, feeling himself relax as he saw the slightly panicked expression that was there. Funny how, in any other situation, Oz would've been disturbed to see such an expression on Break of all people. But right now, it meant that Break was still alive and well enough to still feel, at the very least.

Still, the expression still made him worry, reaching over, he picked the cool, wet cloth from the old man's forehead, checking to see if it had become useless to him yet, when Break suddenly flew up into a sitting position.

Oz could've swore he had a heart attack at the same moment he wanted to cry in joy and hug the guy.

Thank the Lord for nightmares.

Panting, Break looked around the seemingly abandoned theater, eyes wide in shock and panic. Oz hoped that would be the last time he has to see that expression on Break. Shaking slightly, Break brought one hand up to his forehead, "That's right, I… came to the Idiot Duke's place and…"

"Who is an **idiot Duke**?" Oz jumped slightly at Duke Barma's sudden appearance, on the seats behind them.

Break smirked, something close to a sneer at this point, at him, "I'm sorry, I should've said **retarded duke**."

Said duke stared at him with an expression that had to have been the closest thing to surprise as he could get, completely silent as Liam and Gil suddenly entered, Liam walking up to Break and Oz, "Xerxes, you woke up?"

Break muttered his name, saying something about Liam having a bandage around his head, "I only put it on because the wound wouldn't stop bleeding," Liam replied quickly and off handedly, then he shoved his coat into the other man, "I've warned you about overusing your powers, you really shouldn't make others worry."

Oz felt a spike of anger shoot through his chest quite suddenly, making him nearly gasp in shock, but he quickly ignored it as he noticed Gil avoid Break's gaze. The silver-haired man seemed to be filled with something between surprise and sorrow, lifting his hand up to rest on the place where his clock had long struck the end. "I see, so everyone already knows."

Duke Barma smirked, like he was victorious as he used his fan to fan himself, "Thanks to me, I avoided a lot of explanation time for you, so now, without hesitation, we can continue out little chat…"

That being said, the atmosphere in the room became something like an iron blanket, and half of Oz wanted to hit Break over the head with something and avoid the entire situation altogether. They couldn't talk if Break was still asleep. But at the same time, he couldn't deny that he, too, wanted to know more about the mysterious man.

It's not like Break was about to willingly tell them anything under normal circumstances.

Sighing, Break began to put his coat on, and Oz felt sympathy for the man beginning to pour out of him, "Break," He turned to give the Duke a more stern look, or at least what he hoped was one, "If you continue to talk about that, then you'll hurt Break, then I'll—"

"Wha~t, are you worrying, Brat?" Oz flinched and blushed slightly as he turned to see Break smile-not smirk or sneer, a genuine smile-at him, "You actually really want to know, don't you? You should just remain a brat, you just have to think about yourself."

Oz gulped, eyes wide as Break continued to talk, but his brain couldn't seem to move past what he had just said. He felt like his chest just had lava poured into it, his heart was beating so fast that his brain was shaking, if that made any sense whatsoever. But it didn't matter if it didn't make sense anyways, at least not to Oz, it didn't matter anymore.

Oz was dumb, he wasn't slow most of the time, and he wasn't anywhere near as naïve as he sometimes attempted to portray himself to be. He was tired of meeting different people who would be able to figure him out better than he could himself, that just wasn't right. Alice, Gil, Elliot, Sharon, Break. All of them figured out so much about him that he couldn't figure out on his own, stuff he had been running from and hiding from himself. Things he didn't want to have to admit.

But Oz wasn't going to let that happen again, he was sick and tired of all that trouble, of all the yelling and crying and fighting, he was sick and tired of being unfamiliar to himself. That's why he wasn't going to try to hide it, he wasn't going to run from it, he had to admit it to himself here and now, if for nothing else but his own sanity.

Oz could've swore he…

"The Will of The Abyss went by—"

"I love you." Everyone immediately turned their attention to Oz, who at that moment realized just how dumb it was to blurt that out without any build up or anything… Well, the build up was inside his head, but… Aw, you get it.

Break blinked in surprise at him, just for a moment, then smirked again, this one a bit softer, but not nearly as soft as that smile from earlier. Still, that and the hand that came down on his head still made Oz's heart go at an inhuman speed, and then Break chuckled a bit, "I know, Brat," There was a pause as an awkward silence settled with everyone else in the room, except the two next to each other. Then Oz's vision was cut off as Break's hadn't shoved his head down and ruffled his hair, "And you chose a wonderfully awkward time for your self-realization."

Yes, that day, **Oz would swear**, was probably the longest and fastest day of his life.


End file.
